Squeezable plastic tubes are used in large quantities for the packaging and dispensing of various products, such as cosmetics, ointments, shampoo, toothpaste, and the like. Such tubes are usually provided empty to the producer of the contents which the tube is meant to contain, with an open end for filling of the tube and a closed opposite end, that end closed by a closure cap. The producer then fills the tube and seals the open end to provide a filled tube for use by a consumer by removing or opening the closure cap and dispensing contents by squeezing of the tube.
A particularly useful closure cap for use with squeezable plastic tubes is the xe2x80x9cflip-topxe2x80x9d cap which has a lower section that is attached to a tube, the lower section having a dispensing nozzle, and an upper section that is hinged to the lower section, and usually has a plug for closing the dispensing nozzle when the upper and lower sections are closed. A finger or thumb recess is provided in the lower section of the closure cap, opposite the hinge, so that a user""s finger or thumb can be used to push the upper section away from the lower section and expose the nozzle for dispensing of the contents of the tube by squeezing of the tube.
While the squeezable tubes are originally in a cylindrical shape before sealing of the tube, upon sealing of the open end of the tube, such as by welding, while the top of the tube retains a substantially cylindrical shape, adjacent to the head, the remaining portion of the tube assumes a shape of an isosceles triangle, when viewed from a side, with two relatively flat front and rear walls and rounded sides. Labeling for product identification and use directions is usually printed or otherwise provided so that the product identification and use directions appear on the relatively flat front and rear walls. Where a flip-top closure cap is used, it is advantageous to align the finger recess of the closure cap with a visually desired graphics portion of the labeling, such as the brand name, so that portion of the label is visible to the user when holding the tube across the flat surfaces, so as to provide easy opening of the flip-top closure cap.
It is thus advantageous that the finger recess of a flip-top closure cap and the visually desired graphics portion be aligned, while the other end of the tube is sealed in a direction perpendicular to a plane, defined by a center of the finger recess and the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical tube, so as to provide the proper alignment. Various methods have been proposed to assume such alignment, such as providing co-acting ribs or projections on a cap and tube head which engage when proper alignment is achieved, such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,234. Such a method requires modification of the cap and head however, with the expense and labor associated with such designs.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of forming a squeezable plastic tube that has a flip-top closure cap where the visually desired graphics portion of the labeling and finger recess of the cap are aligned, and with the tube sealed in a direction perpendicular to a plane, defined by the center of the finger recess and the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical tube such that the labeling and finger recess are properly positioned during squeezing of the tube by a user, without the need for specially designed cap and tube head arrangements.
Squeezable plastic tubes for dispensing material which have a hinged closure cap with a finger recess, with a visually desired graphics portion of the labeling centrally aligned relative to the finger recess, are produced by providing a collapsible elongated plastic cylinder, having an outer surface, with a head at one end and being open at the other end, the head having a conventional engagement feature for engagement with the hinged closure cap. The closure cap is secured on the head, which closure cap has a lower portion attached to the head and an upper portion hingedly attached to the lower portion, and a finger recess in the outer wall of the lower portion opposite the hinge. Then, labeling is applied to the outer surface of the collapsible elongated plastic cylinder between the open end and the closure cap, the labeling having a visually desired graphic portion and an indicia centered on or opposite of such visually desired graphic portion. The indicia on the label is aligned with, or is opposite, to an imaginary surface line on the plastic cylinder which is parallel with the longitudinal axis of the cylinder and passes through a center of the finger recess of the closure cap.
The labeling may be applied to the outer surface of the collapsible plastic cylinder on a wall thereof with the indicia aligned with the recess of the closure cap (the front of a tube produced), on the outer surface of the collapsible plastic cylinder on a wall thereof with the indicia opposite to the recess of the closure cap (the back of a tube produced) or the label may be a wrap-around label that is applied completely around the cylinder outer surface with the indicia aligned with the recess of the closure cap or opposite the recess of the closure cap.
The open end of the collapsible elongated plastic cylinder, after filling of the plastic cylinder with contents to be dispensed therefrom, is arranged to be sealed in a direction perpendicular to a plane, defined by the center of the finger recess and the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical tube, by sealing of the open end of the filled collapsible elongated plastic cylinder with use of the indicia to provide for the proper arrangement.